Data Culminating Task Part One : Revised Brainstorming >Ideas
Pregnancy vs. Income - I would study whether or not income effects a populations pregnancy rate
Teen Pregnancy vs. Low Income – I would study if low income has a higher percentage of teen pregnancy
NBA Team Salaries vs. Winning Percentage
MLB Salaries vs. Winning Percentage
Topic of Choice
NBA Team Salaries Vs. Winning Percentage
Do teams that pay more to their players in the NBA have a higher winning percentage in 2010-2011?
Hypothesis
I believe that teams that pay out more money for the contracts of the player will have a higher winning pe rcentage. This is because a team is going to want a player that will be an asset to their team and benefit them greatly. If they know a specific player will do this for them, they will negotiate with that player until a happy medium is set. Teams will of course pay a lot more to have a team they think can win the NBA finals
Background Information
Last year, season 2009 – 2010, the LA Lakers had won the NBA finals
They had also had the highest payroll for their team at $91,000,000
In the 2008 – 2009 season, the Lakers had won as well, and they were the fifth top paying team that year
That year, the New York Knicks were the top paying team
That year, they didn’t even make it to the play offs
This shows that my hypothesis could be wrong and that the team’s payroll does not always affect the teams winning percentage
Bias
Measurement Bias: The only type of bias for this data could be that it is for the current season
This data will be constantly changing and is already slightly out dated due to games that have just previously happened
Also it could be that I did not include previous years in my data
The reason I did not include previous years though is because of inflation
Every year the salary cap changes and new players would be paid slightly more than if they were to join the year before
This is why I wanted to use as current data as I could
Other than that, there is not really any other types of data
The data I have retrieved came from a reliable site and could have in no where be tampered with
Winning Percentage
The mean of the winning percentage is 0.497 with a standard deviation of 0.17
This mean shows that good and bad teams are evened out well
The maximum winning percentage is San Antonio with 83.3%
The minimum winning percentage is Cleveland with only 22.2%
Between these two teams, that makes a difference of 61.1%
Team Payrolls
The mean of the team payrolls this year is $66 947 205.77 with a standard deviation of $67 942 547.79
The team that spent the most of their players this was the L.A. Lakers with $91,569,659
The team that spent the least on their team was Sacramento with $43,798,401
That makes a difference of $47,771,258
Comparing Data
Sacramento had the lowest team salary and they are also in second last place with a winning percentage of only 24.2%
L.A. Lakers had the highest payroll for their team, and they are in 5th place so far with a winning percentage of 70.3%
San Antonio, who is currently in first place, only spent just above average on their team
Cleveland, who is currently in last place, had spend almost ten million more dollars on their team than Sacramento did
Extraneous Variables
One extraneous for this data could be that really talented players can be traded to other teams
When this happens, that players salary usually drops a significant amount for a couple yearsOn the opposite end, a player who has been with a team for many years may make more than they deserve
Outliers
Houston: Payroll is well over the average, with a winning percentage of only 44.4% (18th)
San Antonio: Payroll is average, with a winning percentage of 83.3% (1st)
Miami: Payroll is below average, with a winning percentage of 76.3% (3rd)
These outliers will skew the data to show inaccurate results
Team Payrolls of 2010-2011 Team Payrolls 1. Los Angeles Lakers$91,569,659 2. Orlando Magic$89,139,596 3. Dallas Mavericks$89,093,829 4. Boston Celtics $83,790,759 5. Denver Nuggets $83,020,059 6. Utah Jazz $75,785,355 7. Houston Rockets$74,581,719
8. Philadelphia 76ers$69,360,246 9. Atlanta Hawks$69,145,985 10. Milwaukee Bucks$69,128,143 11. Portland Trail Blazers$68,419,112
12. San Antonio Spurs$67,868,045 13. Memphis Grizzlies $67,162,338 14. New Orleans Hornets$66,674,723 15. Toronto Raptors$66,513,474 16. Golden State Warriors$66,140,922 17. Detroit Pistons$65,917,821 18. Charlotte Bobcats $65,880,884 19. Phoenix Suns$65,420,506 20. Miami Heat$65,356,624 21. Indiana Pacers$64,368,421 22. Washington Wizards$59,999,061 23. New Jersey Nets$58,539,907 24. New York Knicks$58,102,438 25. Oklahoma City Thunder$57,954,586
26. Chicago Bulls$56,054,262 27. Los Angeles Clippers$53,369,343 28. Cleveland Cavaliers$51,572,807 29. Minnesota Timberwolves$44,687,148 30. Sacramento Kings$43,798,401
Brainstorming
>Ideas
Topic of Choice
NBA Team Salaries Vs. Winning Percentage
Hypothesis
I believe that teams that pay out more money for the contracts of the player will have a higher winning pe
rcentage. This is because a team is going to want a player that will be an asset to their team and benefit them greatly. If they know a specific player will do this for them, they will negotiate with that player until a happy medium is set. Teams will of course pay a lot more to have a team they think can win the NBA finals
Background Information
- Last year, season 2009 – 2010, the LA Lakers had won the NBA finals
- They had also had the highest payroll for their team at $91,000,000
- In the 2008 – 2009 season, the Lakers had won as well, and they were the fifth top paying team that year
- That year, the New York Knicks were the top paying team
- That year, they didn’t even make it to the play offs
- This shows that my hypothesis could be wrong and that the team’s payroll does not always affect the teams winning percentage
BiasWinning Percentage
Team Payrolls
Comparing Data
Extraneous Variables
Outliers
- Houston: Payroll is well over the average, with a winning percentage of only 44.4% (18th)
- San Antonio: Payroll is average, with a winning percentage of 83.3% (1st)
- Miami: Payroll is below average, with a winning percentage of 76.3% (3rd)
- These outliers will skew the data to show inaccurate results
Bibliography
Raw Data
NBA Team Salaries
Team Payrolls of 2010-2011
Team Payrolls
1. Los Angeles Lakers $91,569,659
2. Orlando Magic $89,139,596
3. Dallas Mavericks$89,093,829
4. Boston Celtics
$83,790,759
5. Denver Nuggets
$83,020,059
6. Utah Jazz
$75,785,355
7. Houston Rockets $74,581,719
8. Philadelphia 76ers $69,360,246
9. Atlanta Hawks $69,145,985
10. Milwaukee Bucks $69,128,143
11. Portland Trail Blazers $68,419,112
12. San Antonio Spurs $67,868,045
13. Memphis Grizzlies
$67,162,338
14. New Orleans Hornets $66,674,723
15. Toronto Raptors $66,513,474
16. Golden State Warriors $66,140,922
17. Detroit Pistons $65,917,821
18. Charlotte Bobcats
$65,880,884
19. Phoenix Suns $65,420,506
20. Miami Heat $65,356,624
21. Indiana Pacers $64,368,421
22. Washington Wizards $59,999,061
23. New Jersey Nets $58,539,907
24. New York Knicks $58,102,438
25. Oklahoma City Thunder $57,954,586
26. Chicago Bulls $56,054,262
27. Los Angeles Clippers$53,369,343
28. Cleveland Cavaliers $51,572,807
29. Minnesota Timberwolves $44,687,148
30. Sacramento Kings $43,798,401
Winning Percentage